Ed Hardy wine?

I told you a couple days ago that I was dying to try the Ed Hardy wine. 

Last night, I couldn’t stand it anymore and I sucked it up, gritted my teeth, and bought the bottle of Lambrusco (figured I go with a pretty safe kind in case it was a horrid brand).  It was nothing like the [insert brand here because I can’t remember] Lambrusco.  Opening it, there was a release of pressure and I automaticly got worried as very few carbonated wines are very high reviews.  Pouring it, there were several similarities with the La Passion of Italy.  It was a thick red with a pink foam.  The first sip, it tasted like a cheap wine.  Not bad.  Not amazing.  It did actually taste like a wine which surprised me as I was expecting something along the lines of boones farm or arbor mist (wich I like even though it’s not really a wine) .  While it was defently wine, it was very VERY grapie.  With 8% achohol it had defently fermented, but clearly hadn’t sat very long or been rotated many times.  I would say that a flavor like lambrusco isn’t too hard to get right.  They make a rose, I think that is on my list next.  It has a cooler bottle and is a little easier to mess up and meant to be less juicy than lambrusco so I will be able to taste the quality a little better.  This wine last night, was like a carbonated grape juice mixed with a wine. It wasn’t really sugary which is some improvement from other wines (such as the local wines)  but it was still very sweet.  It truly did remind me of a grape juice that was left open on the counter too long, but the taste it self wasn’t unappealing and so I could drink it again, though not as a wine conesure.

The second wine that I had last night was a bottle that I have seen many times when I worked at the warehouse.  The first appeal to it was the label.  Simply white with a permanent marker picture of an old fashioned steak house on a dark bottle.  Cabernet sauvington is a wine that makes me nervous as I’m not a huge dry wine fan.  After the sweeter wine, steak house tied in perfectly with my taste buds.  Lingering with a super and desert combo in my mouth.  After a few drinks and after the wine had time to take over from the Ed Hardy, I could taste the wood in it.  It was excellently aged but not too old.   Drinking Steak house I could taste the wooden barrels that is was aged in.  It was a dry wine, but with a sweet (almost berryish) finish.  I’m not one to say “this would be good with X food” because normally I’ve had wines that are good alone, but this is an excellent dinner wine.  ….. hints the name, steak house, it would more specificly be perfect for a steak dinner.  After a full glass (nearly equevalint of 2 glasses)  The dryness began to set in, just as it does with any dry wine, but I imagine that with the right side (side meaning steak) it would do nicely. . . besides, through the time you can eat a dinner, can you really fit in much more than two glasses of anything?

Overall, I am content with the wine choices.  Ed hardy – a good wine for non wine drinkers.   Sweet, but not too sugary, and more of a grape juice. 

Steak house – dry with a hint of something sweet, perfect with a heavy super, excellently turned. 

Let me know what new wines have caught your eye or what new brands you’ve discovered that are suprising or unexpected.

In the mean time, happy wining.